All credits go to Sino from the Aggramar server EU
This guide is about using a Main Assist (MA) - just one fundamental aspect of
working in a group in WoW. It is mentioned here and there if you do a "Main
Assist" Goggle search, but not in enough detail. Here is a basic guide dedicated
to this subject alone.
For those who already know all the basic stuff, please still read it and make
suggestions so I can keep it updated.
Many thanks to the discussions on various websites I visited, include sites in
English, Swedish, Danish and Chinese. References are listed below. Also for some
nice comments from our guildies, ESPECIALLY FROM IZZ the priest - who has not
only polished my English, but also shared his experiences and concerns with me
when it comes to MA. Warrior and priest are probably the most stoic classes in
this game, maybe that is why they are more interested in this subject. And it is
also the reason I post this subject on the warrior forum - MA is closely related
to tanking, and tanking is a group work.
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Content:
What is Assist?
Why Assist?
What is Main Assist?
What does an Assist macro do?
Which class can be a good Main Assist?
Why your Main Tank shouldn’t be the Main Assist?
But how can I do an Assist macro or whatever?
How to be a good Main Assist?
What you need to know to assist the Main Assist
Complaints a Main Assist might get
Main Assist is a culture
References
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What is Assist?
There is a command /assist in this game, it's shortcut key is "F", and it lets
you select the target of your target.
For example: if friend A is attacking mob B, you can target friend A and press
F, then u get mob B as your target.
So, Assist is when you target the same mob as the person you are assisting.
Why Assist?
To assist is to gain efficiency and viability.
If you're in a battle with multiple mobs, it is logical to try to bring down the
mobs one by one. In group work, to concentrate your firepower is very important.
Instead of every party member tries to solo her/his mob, you will want to
concentrate your firepower on one mob first, then move on to the next one when
the previous one is dead. By assisting, you are killing mobs faster and
therefore reducing overall damage taken.
Asssist allows also the tanks to hold aggro on the other targets which are not
being attacked easier. And making the healers jobs easier as they now can
concentrate on the tanks.
Assisting should be used in almost all kinds of groups. Even in a 2-man group,
when you face more then one mob, the idea of assisting is still valid: you take
down one mob as fast as possible, thus reduce the damage done to the group in
general; in cases mobs can run, instead of two runners at the same time, you
have only one runner to deal with. Even in a raid like in Strathomle, you can
still assist the MA on the elites while the mages are AoEing the non-elites.
What is Main Assist (MA)?
So, who will then decide which of those mobs we should kill first and in what
sequence we should kill them? More experienced players will designate a Main
Assist in group works. A Main Assist (MA) will decide the target of the group.
All a Main Assist (MA) does is target your groups target. If we say a group
leader is the general of a group, a MA is the true director during a fight,
and MA is the most hard roll to play imo.
Example: Mob A and his buddies mob B and mob C are attacking your group, and
they all look alike and stick close to each other. Mmm... what is the first
target now? Wait, Bob is our MA, by selecting Bob and press F, you get Bob's
target. Mob A dies fast; then Bob choose mob B, you choose Bob and press F, then
start to attack mob B; Mob B dies, Bob choose mob C ..... And you know that Bob
usually pick up the Main Tank's first target as his very first target.
What does an Assist macro do?
Assist macro is the way to gain nicety, so during a messy fight, you will be
sure that you do choose the right target.
When the group is formed, Bob is designated as Main Assist. Each group member
creates a macro as follows:
1. Press
2. Choose ‘Macros’
3. Choose name and button image
4. Edit macro text to read ‘/assist Bob’
5. Save and close
The macro can then be assigned in the key-bindings menu to ‘F’, or dragged to
the toolbar as a button.
So during the fight, you do not need to select Bob to get the mob. Pressing ‘F’
or clicking the macro button is enough.
Which class or who can be a better Main Assist?
Preferably one that can take a few hits; one that does not switch target often;
one who is more experienced; one that is quick-minded but still stubborn as hell
and won't change target until the chosen mob us dead.
Rogues might be the best assist class. The rogue *won't* be changing targets
much (otherwise he wastes combo points). They have also skill to use if they
steal too much aggro from the MT.
Paladins aren't best choice if they have to stop to heal the others sometimes.
But they are great to take damage. So if there is more than 1 or 2 pallies in
your group/raid, why not a pally.
A hunter can also be a very good assist, as they have a better overview of the
fight, and the big hunter’s mark which can make the target clear. Provided: the
hunter has no duty to get aggro off the mobs on the priest, or whatever can make
them change target during the targeted fight; And, he should never try to steal
aggro from the MT, as it involves too much moving between the fighting spot and
the hunter. That is why I think close range melee class is better then casters.
A warriors can only be the MA if he does not MT or OT (’Off-Tank‘). A warrior
has the skill to grab aggro on more than one mob, which is better used when they
switch targets constantly in order to hold aggro, for example when adds comes
and the OT needs to react. So, the warrior is not normally considered the MA
(Main Assist) because of his possible multiple targets. Because warriors can
take a lot of punishment they may engage two or three mobs at the same time,
they will switch targets to gain agro if the raid or group lacks crowd control,
thus tanking 2 maybe 3 mobs at a time. In a group where there is one warrior, he
will usually be the MT. In a group where there are 2 or more warriors, the non
MT warrior(s) still need to change target (eg to run to the priest the get the
aggro off him, or aggro any add or lose mobs in situations when MT can’t react
much).
Other caster classes or healing classes are not good to be a MA in a full 5-man
group or raid. A Mage might need to re-sheep the sheeped mob, so he needs to
change target during a fight and is not suitable to be MA, for example. But in
2-3 man grinding parties, even a preist can be the main assist: a
ShadowWord:Pain is a very nice icon for the others to know which mob is the main
target, works as well as a hunter's mark.
Why your Main Tank shouldn't be the Main Assist?
Provided your MT (Main Tank) has the skills to grab multiple aggro, the MT and
the MA should always be 2 different people. This is because the MT will never be
targeting the same mob all the time. He will need to constantly rotate between
each of the mobs on him to keep building threat on each of them. If he sits
there attacking the one mob that everyone else is attacking then as soon as a
heal is cast every other mob will run straight at your priest.
To know this about the MT is important. This way the MT wont have his party
complaining that you keep switching target and they don't know who to attack.
What they need to do is to assist the MA, not the MT.
But this is not set in stone. Different groups will have you assisting in
different ways. Some groups will make the main tank the focus of the assist
macro, others will have a separate "main assist" character. Bottom line - You
will need an assist macro. (credit: Zarek)
But how can I do an Assist macro or whatever?
Quick and dirty option:
Target the designated main assist and press F.
Better option:
Create a macro (see ‘What does a Assist macro do?’):
/assist Bob
You will replace "Bob" with the name of the designated character everyone is
assisting. Then you will create a macro, and a button to use the macro. What
this does is to cause your target to be the mob which the character has
targeted. So if everyone uses the assist macro, everyone will be attacking the
same mob. You may need to click the button several times. And you'll need to
click it again after each mob dies.
At the start of a run, type "/macro" and change "Bob" to the name of the
designated assist. All you need do now is to hotkey the assist macro, or drag
the icon to your taskbar, and you're set.
Super option:
Get the add-on called Assist Helper.
AssistHelper makes assigning main assist and using assist effectively a lot
easier. It allows you to bind a number of special functions, one of which is a
key to select who you will be assisting (I use ALT-F) and another is to assist
the character you have defined with the other key (I use F for this).
This saves having to edit the macro above every time your in a group and want to
assist a different character than the previous day. This still leaves the
original assist functionality (the F key) as it was before as long as you don't
use the same key binding for one of the new abilities.
You can download Assist Helper from here:
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